If the specs are to be believed, the iPhone 4S has a great camera. It’s such a nice camera that Apple has gone as far as to post an image gallery that consists of untouched photos taken with the iPhone 4S’ camera.

Keep in mind, that though untouched, they’re taken in conditions that really bring out the quality of the device’s camera. Still, they photos are great. You can see them and download full-res versions here.

1) 8MP

We’ve heard that after a certain point, megapixels become less important. Still, this can help offer higher-res images with more detail. According to Apple’s site, that is 60 percent more pixels than the camera on the iPhone 4.

2) New Optics

This is the part that a photographer would probably consider more important. The iPhone 4S has new optics that make better use of the lighting to capture a nicer image. According to Apple, their lens is custom and uses “five precision elements to shape incoming light.” It has a larger f/2.4 aperture, making photos look brighter and an infrared filter which helps offers more accurate colors. What’s all that mean to a non-photographer like myself? It means nicer pictures, and all those specs are things I don’t have to worry much about. The new optics will also allow for the camera to perform better under low lighting.

3) 1080p – That’s a nice plus for the iPhone. Still, keep in mind that’s going to take up quite a bit of space on your iPhone. The other thing we’ve read about this is that due to the rolling-shutter effect of smaller image sensors (here’s a great example of how that can distort an image), movement may not look as good as a full-on camera.

4) Real-Time Image Stabilization

This is definitely a plus, especially when doing video. We have all seen videos taken by people’s phones and it has that Cloverfield effect. Everything is jittery and you get motion sickness just watching it. This should fix/eliminate/ or improve that to some degree.

Improved Camera?

The camera is definitely one of the major highlights of the iPhone 4S. Even those who were not thrilled with the new handset’s announcement can probably agree that it definitely steps things up from the previous models. It doesn’t mean it’s the best mobile phone camera out there, but it sounds like it does its job very well. We will know for sure when we see them put to real-world use.